A British father-of-two was cleared today of pushing an Irish tourist to his death off a Tenerife booze cruise nearly 17 years ago.

A Spanish jury acquitted kitchen fitter Darren Sapstead of any involvement in Garry Walton's drowning on November 7, 1996, after five hours of deliberations.

The decision marked the end of a long fight by Mr Sapstead, from Woodham Ferrers, near Chelmsford, Essex, to clear his name.

Cleared: Darren Sapstead celebrates after he was acquitted today of pushing Irish tourist Garry Walton to his death nearly 17 years ago

Hearing: Darren Sapstead walks past the Walton family on the day he was cleared of any involvement in the death of Garry Walton

He clapped his hands and shouted 'Yes' as his defence lawyer mouthed 'You're not guilty' in English seconds after the jury spokeswoman announced the unanimous 9-0 verdict in Spanish.

Garry's builder dad Robert, 60, originally from Leeds, West Yorkshire, but now living in Tooraneena, Dungarvan, south east Ireland, buried his head in his hands and wife Catherine, 59, stared silently ahead with tears in her eyes.

The distraught Walton family, who included Robert's sisters Debbie and Rachel, left the court in the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz afterwards by a back door without making any comment.

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Darren, 38, extradited to Spain in 2005 and remanded in jail in Spain for eight months before being released and allowed to return to Britain on bail ahead of his three-day trial, said: 'Justice has been served at the end of the day.

'The feeling I have is indescribable.

'It's been a long time but the truth has finally come out in the end.

Family: Garry Walton's father (pictured right at the court today) buried his head in his hands when the verdict came through

Distraught: Robert Walton, pictured with his family arriving at the court today, left the hearing without making any comment following the verdict

'My statements on what happened the night Garry died never changed.'

Darren, whose wife Joanne, son Nathan, 10, and daughter Nicole, 16, stayed behind in the UK, said: 'I'm going to phone my family to give them the good news, go and eat a big T-bone steak to celebrate and then get on the first plane back home.

'I just want now to try to rebuild my shattered life.

'I lost a £300,000 business because of
the time I was in jail in Spain and I've spent thousands of pounds
trying to clear my name.

'No nearer': Garry's father Robert later said: 'A guilty verdict wouldn't have brought back our dear son.But we're still no nearer knowing why he died so in that respect we're where we were 17 years ago'

Justice: After the jury returned their verdict today, Mr Sapstead said, 'Justice has been served at the end of the day. The feeling I have is indescribable'

'I also lost a lot of time with my children when they were growing up.

'I feel sorry for Garry's family and I can understand why they're angry.

'But they're blaming the wrong person. I don't know who if anyone killed their son but it wasn't me.

'The Spanish justice system is a joke. Nearly 17 years this has gone on for and there was no evidence.

'It should be innocent until proven guilty but I feel as if it's been the other way round.'

The jurors were not asked to rule if Garry had died by accident or as a result of a crime.

Drowned: Gary Walton had been on a party boat 'booze cruise' seventeen years ago before he drowned

Trial: Darren Sapstead, pictured left in court earlier this week , denied pushing Garry Walton, right, to his death over the
side of a pleasure boat in Tenerife 1996. The trial began on Monday, 17
years after Mr Walton died

Distress: The long-awaited trial comes after a protracted campaign by Garry's parents Robert and Catherine to unlock the mystery of their son's death

The jury spokesman said they had reached their decision to clear Mr Sapstead of any involvement because of contradictions in the witness statements of two British sisters who only incriminated him nearly a year later, expert forensic evidence Garry's body showed no signs of violence, and the fact the defendant had never changed his story.

Mr Sapstead was one of only five of the estimated 45 people on board booze cruise vessel Batros questioned by police the night Garry, 21, drowned off the popular resort of Playa de Las Americas.

He was allowed to return to Britain two days later and only the two British sisters, Katie and Lucy Smethurst, faced a second court quiz on the island.

The probe into Garry's death, initially
classed as an accident by Spanish investigators, was reopened after the
women accused Mr Sapstead of killing him in fresh statements they made
to Manchester Police in September 1997.

Agony: The victim's father Robert Walton was in the Tenerife courtroom to watch the trial

They had said in previous statements Mr Sapstead was not responsible.

He was extradited to Spain in December 2005 and remanded in jail before being allowed to return to the UK on bail while an investigating judge in Tenerife continued to probe Garry's death.

He was charged with intentionally killing Garry earlier this year and ordered to stand trial.

State prosecutors said they wanted Darren jailed for up to 12 years if he was convicted of Garry's homicide at the start of the trial on Monday.

They accused him of asking Katie
Smethurst, 'Shall I throw him overboard?' as Garry staggered up to them
drunk after alcohol-fuelled games before grabbing him and throwing him
over the side of the boat.

The tourist's body was found around two hours later by another vessel.

Fight: Robert and Catharine Walton have been seeking justice for their son's death for 17 years

Mr Sapstead insisted he had nothing to do with Garry's death and told the court he was the only one who had tried to help him by throwing him a life ring and preparing to jump into the water when he saw him in difficulties.

His defence lawyer Carlos Valenciano accused the Smethurst sisters of lying by incriminating Darren ten months after Garry's death to deflect attention from Katie's involvement in the incident and her fear she would be accused of killing him.

Garry's campaigning parents Robert and Catherine attended every day of court and were joined today by Robert's two sisters.

Speaking after the hearing, Garry's father said:
'We are obviously devastated but we will live with this. All we ever
wanted was a trial and we got that. We just want to get back to Ireland
now and try to put this behind us.

Return: Mr Sapstead voluntarily returned to Spain to stand trial

'A guilty verdict wouldn't have
brought back our dear son. But we're still no nearer knowing why he died
so in that respect we're where we were 17 years ago.

'This case took far too long to come
to court but the state prosecutor Debora Padilla gave such a fantastic
and damning account in court of what happened the night our son died.

'And we've got a friend for life in our lawyer Pedro Ripoll. He's been a real rock of support.'

They had to exhume Garry's body 10 months after his burial when evidence came to light casting doubt on the original ruling his death was an accident.

An investigating judge in Tenerife shelved the case against Mr Sapstead three times - only to reopen it after repeated appeals by the couple's lawyer Pedro Ripoll.

Hearing: Proceedings opened on Monday after a long-running legal battle over Mr Walton's death

Mr Ripoll retired in 2007 - and both he and Garry's parents only found out by chance this week's trial had been scheduled.

The Waltons have become grandparents five times since the death of their son - and Mr Sapstead has become a father twice with his eldest daughter now studying for her GSCEs.

Speaking outside court earlier this week out-of-work builder Mr Walton, who moved with his family to Ireland when Garry was a child, said: 'It's mixed feelings at the moment.

'We're over the moon on the one hand.

'We'd given up on things ever getting this far after so many kicks in the teeth and we've been pinching ourselves the last few days to make sure it's true.'

'But we're also disgusted it's taken so long. It's inexplicable. We've been treated like dirt by the Spanish authorities. My son deserved better than this.'

Garry Walton died after falling from the Albatros off the coast of Tenerife, pictured

Speaking two years after his son's death, he said: 'We won't stop till we discover the truth. We owe it to Garry.

'It only needs one person to speak and the police will reopen the case.

'Garry was the most gentle loving and honest boy you could meet.

'He'd been looking forward to the holiday for ages, and he rang home to tell us he was having a brilliant time.